Key Moments In League History

1946: Birth of The NBA

The Basketball Association of America, which would go on to become the NBA, played its first game on Nov. 1, 1946, with the New York Knickerbockers facing the Toronto Huskies at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. The Knicks’ Ossie Schectman scored the first basket and the Knicks went on to win 68-66 in front of a crowd of about 7,000 fans.

Three years later, the BBA merged with the National Basketball League to create the National Basketball Association. The Knicks remain as one of three franchises that have played in every NBA season, along with the Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors.

1960: Heading West

Minneapolis Lakers owner Bob Short moved the team to Los Angeles before the 1960-61 season, making the Lakers the NBA’s first California team. The Philadelphia Warriors then followed the Lakers west when they moved to San Francisco in 1962.

1976: ABA Merger

T he merger of the flashy American Basketball Association into the NBA called for the league to absorb four of six ABA teams, with the Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, New York Nets and San Antonio Spurs joining the NBA, while the ABA’s Kentucky Colonels and the Spirits of St. Louis folded and their players entered the NBA through a dispersal draft.

The merger brought such colorful ABA stars as Julius Erving, Moses Malone and George Gervin into the NBA. It also brought the 3-point shot, a staple in the ABA, into the NBA in 1979. But the ABA’s hallmark red, white and blue basketball never made it to the far more traditional NBA.

1978: Global Games

The first overseas NBA game was in September 1978, an exhibition between the Washington Bullets and Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel that saw the host team pull off a surprise upset of the defending NBA champions. The globe-trotting Bullets would play three other exhibition games in 1979 in China and the Philippines.

The overseas efforts would continue with the first regular-season NBA games played outside North America coming in 1990 in Tokyo between the Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz. The NBA China Games would grow to become an annual staple of the NBA preseason schedule, while games played in London, Paris and Mexico City also would be adopted as part of the NBA regular season.

The international efforts helped spark the global growth of the NBA, which featured more than 100 international players on team rosters last season.

1983: Salary Cap Adopted

The NBA cleared a major hurdle in 1983 when players agreed to a salary cap in a labor deal that gave the players 53% of gross revenue effective for the 1984-85 season. Negotiated by NBA Commissioner Larry O’Brien and then NBA Executive Vice President David Stern, the deal remains the formative structure of the current collective bargaining agreement.

1984: David Stern Named Commissioner

Stern replaced Larry O’Brien as NBA commissioner on Feb. 1, 1984, beginning a remarkable 30-year tenure that transformed the NBA from a struggling league into the global powerhouse property that it is today.

Stern led the league through a staggering period of growth. Under his watch, the NBA added seven new teams and two leagues in the WNBA and the G League. He oversaw the rise of massive new media deals that enriched the owners and escalated player salaries, and widened the league’s international footprint. Stern retired in February 2014 and died on Jan. 1, 2020, after suffering a brain hemorrhage.

1984: NBA All-Star Weekend

The NBA held its annual All-Star Game beginning in 1951, but it wasn’t until 1984 when then-league executive Rick Welts was credited for playing a key role in creating the NBA All-Star weekend, which launched the event into a multiday festival that provided new activation and hospitality opportunities for sponsors. The revamped All-Star format revived the slam dunk contest that was part of the ABA and grew the event into an integral part of the All-Star weekend.

1985: Draft Lottery Debuts

After using a coin flip from 1966-84 to determine which team would get the first overall draft pick, the league created its lottery system that uses envelopes containing the name of non-playoff teams to be drawn to determine the order of first-round picks. The New York Knicks won the first pick in the 1985 inaugural lottery and chose Patrick Ewing. The NBA refined the lottery in 1990 by moving to a weighted system to give the team with the worst record the best chance to win the top pick.

1988: Modern Expansion Era

The NBA added two teams in both 1988 and 1989: the original Charlotte Hornets and the Miami Heat joined the league for the 1988-89 season, followed by the Orlando Magic and Minnesota Timberwolves for the 1989-90 season. Then, in 1995, the league expanded into Canada by adding the Toronto Raptors and Vancouver Grizzlies. The Grizzlies never took hold in Vancouver and relocated to Memphis in 2001. The NBA then beefed up to its current 30-team league in 2004 with the addition of the Charlotte Bobcats, which replaced the original Hornets team that would later become the New Orleans Pelicans.

1991: Magic Faces HIV

Lakers superstar Magic Johnson stunned the world on Nov. 7, 1991, when he announced he had tested positive for the HIV virus that causes AIDS. After winning five NBA titles as a Laker, Johnson said he would retire immediately and vowed to raise awareness around the virus. He then played in the 1992 NBA All-Star Game and has since lived with the virus while leading efforts to educate and raise millions of dollars to battle the disease. 

1992: The Dream Team

The 1992 Olympic men’s basketball team, dubbed the Dream Team, is considered the greatest team ever with superstars Michael Jordan, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson leading the squad to a gold medal at the Barcelona Games. Eleven of the team’s 12 members were NBA stars, all of whom are now in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, with Duke University’s Christian Laettner the sole college player on the roster. The Dream Team’s megawatt star power and dominant performance pushed the NBA into global prominence while extending the league’s international footprint.

1998: Costly Lockout

The failure to find common ground during labor talks caused the league’s first major work stoppage as the NBA battled with the union over a new CBA deal from July 1, 1998, to early 1999, wiping out 464 regular-season games. After a new deal was reached, the league and the union settled on a 50-game shortened season that began on Feb. 5, 1999.

2004: Malice at the Palace

One of the darkest moments in league history occurred on Nov. 19, 2004, at The Palace of Auburn Hills near Detroit when members of the Indiana Pacers brawled with the Detroit Pistons. The fight spilled into the crowd after a fan threw a cup at Pacers player Ron Artest. Artest went after the fan, sparking a massive brawl between players and spectators and causing a huge black eye for the league’s image.

2007: Tim Donaghy Betting Scandal

Another ugly moment for the NBA came when Donaghy, then an NBA referee, was accused of betting on NBA games. An independent report ordered by the league showed no evidence that any other NBA referees were involved.

2010: LeBron James Heads To Miami

James, chosen as the top draft pick in 2003 by his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers, announced in July 2010 his decision to “take my talents to South Beach” in a nationally televised show created around his blockbuster free-agent decision. “The Decision” show aired live on ESPN and was panned by many in the media, but James went on to win two titles in Miami as he helped orchestrate the “super team” approach that also brought Toronto Raptors star Chris Bosh to join Dwyane Wade and James on the Heat.

James returned to the Cavaliers in 2014 and led the team to an NBA title in 2016. He then joined the Lakers in 2018 where he won another title in 2020. He is the only player to be named Finals MVP with three different teams.

2011: More Labor Strife

Another labor dispute came in 2011 when failed CBA talks caused a lockout that lasted from July 1 to Dec. 8 as owners and players battled over salary cap issues. The stoppage caused the NBA to shorten the 2011-12 season to 66 games with a Christmas Day start.

2014: Adam Silver Named Commissioner

On Feb. 1, 2014, Silver was named the NBA’s fifth commissioner when he replaced the retiring David Stern. Silver joined the NBA in 1992 and had served in a variety of key roles, including deputy commissioner, and president and COO of NBA Entertainment. Silver has since led the NBA to new heights and ushered in new initiatives such as sports betting deals, jersey advertising and a heightened push for social justice.

2014: The $2 Billion Sale

Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer paid $2 billion to buy the Clippers from owner Donald Sterling, who after making racist comments was forced to sell by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. The record-setting price dwarfed the previous record $550 million sale of the Milwaukee Bucks, set in 2014, and marked a boon in franchise values, with the Houston Rockets and Brooklyn Nets later selling for more than $2 billion as well.

2016: Blockbuster TV Deal

The NBA’s new nine-year, $24 billion TV deal with ESPN and Turner Sports dwarfs the league’s previous deal with a nearly 200% increase in rights fees that launches dramatic boosts in team values and player salaries. ESPN agreed to pay the NBA $1.4 billion and Turner Sports $1.2 billion annually for the rights that run through 2025.

2017: Uniform Advertising

The NBA became the first of the big four leagues to allow its teams to sell ads on the front of team jerseys beginning with the 2017-18 season. The 2.5-inch-by-2.5-inch patch generated around $150 million in annual revenue for the first three years of the program. Seeing that revenue stream, the NHL adopted a similar jersey ad patch program that will start in its 2022-23 season.

2020: Pandemic Shutdown And Social Justice

The NBA suspended its season on March 11 after Utah Jazz player Rudy Goebert tested positive for COVID-19 in a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Other leagues and sports events quickly followed suit as the pandemic shut down sports for months.

The NBA restarted its 2019-20 season in late July at Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports facility in a bubble environment. The restart came during a period of racial tension throughout the country and on Aug. 26, prior to their game against the Orlando Magic, the Milwaukee Bucks walked off the court in protest of the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wis. The action quickly cascaded throughout sports as other NBA teams and other leagues followed suit in a work stoppage to protest the shooting.

After the protests, the NBA created its first NBA Foundation, backed by a $300 million pledge to focus on minority economic development and social justice efforts.